Album Review: Blouse

Imperium (Captured Tracks)

Despite trading in its synthesizers for guitars, on new record Imperium,
Blouse still sounds like an ’80s-adoring pop outfit, albeit one from
the tail end of the New Wave era, whose casual dream-pop guitars are
occasionally interrupted by light doses of punk. Charlie Hilton’s tinny,
whispered vocals blanket most of the record, offering a nice
counterpoint to the zigzagging guitars on the excellent “Happy Days,”
while weighing too heavily on slumberous tracks like the Nico-inspired
“1000 Years.” There’s a dull, emberlike glow to Imperium that is
easy to get lost in, but the flicker eventually grows monotonous: While
“Arrested” approaches Sonic Youth in its noisy, experimental clangor,
other songs, such as “Eyesite,” feel coldly mechanized. With this album,
Blouse shows fits of brilliance within a decidedly overcast mold, but
there’s a small fire burning within Imperium that, with a little more invention, could be stoked to life.